The opening of China Entertainment Group gave Jay Chou a head-on confrontation

Chapter 919 I hate people who are both referees and players.
Zhou Yi felt he probably wasn't a loyal viewer of Hachimao TV.

But there was nothing they could do; this cat named Anne Hathaway was just too good at hissing, the kind that made you want to punch her.

The island platform, which once featured the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Black Widow character, has welcomed another Catwoman, belonging to the DC Extended Universe.

Both have their merits, but Zhou Yi believes there's one point where the DC Extended Universe is definitely the winner—

When he saw the metaphor of a waterfall plunging three thousand feet embodied in one person again, he couldn't help but marvel.

certainly--

With her crooked mouth and slanted eyes, Anne Hathaway just wanted to give him the middle finger at that moment.

She recovered after a few minutes.

"Spike! You really think I'm a bicycle?!"

After soaking in the bathtub, Anne Hathaway, who had finally regained her energy, looked down at the water that was half-submerged and subconsciously rubbed her hands.

How could anyone be so inhumane!

"The greatest respect you can show to your opponent is to give it your all."

Zhou Yi, also soaking in the bathtub with a folded towel on his forehead, said contentedly, "Didn't you always tell me to use your stuff to the bone?"

“I don’t think someone like you deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. You’re not peaceful at all, and you’re violent.”

Afterwards, Anne Hathaway began to reflect on her actions and looked at herself, already feeling regretful—she had been so engrossed in the fun that she had forgotten she would leave marks.

Zhou Yi is going back to China, but she still has to continue her activities in the United States. She has an event to attend in a couple of days, so how is she supposed to wear a formal dress...?

Thinking of this, Anne Hathaway's legs thrashed about underwater twice in dissatisfaction, expressing her resentment with splashing water.

"That? Take it or leave it. It's not like it's some prestigious award," Zhou Yi said nonchalantly, grabbing the woman's ankle.

"If those words were heard by Columbia professors, they would be furious. They were the ones who nominated you."

Anne Hathaway tried to pull her leg back but couldn't, so she just let it go: "Besides, it's a $136 million prize."

The Nobel Peace Prize comes with a prize of 1000 million Norwegian kroner, approximately US$136 million.

Even for Anne Hathaway now, this is not a small amount.

She couldn't imagine anyone competing with this man.

"Don't overthink it. The nomination list will be kept secret for 50 years. Who knows who will win in the end?"

Zhou Yi scoffed: "Those are all people who like to be both referees and players."

The Nobel Peace Prize, the Nobel Prize in Literature, and the Nobel Prize in Economics are all matters of subjective judgment. If someone says you're good enough, then you are; if someone says you're not, then you're not.

"You would have done the same thing if you were in my shoes."

"How can that be the same? Who doesn't know that I'm always upright and honest?" Zhou Yi said this with a self-righteous and arrogant attitude, which made Anne Hathaway laugh.

"when are you going back to China?"

"In about five days, we'll finish recording the parts of some of the music videos that need to be filmed in the United States."

After the shoot, you can just take your luggage and board the plane. That's one of the advantages of having your own private jet; you have a lot of freedom in scheduling.

"Do you need my help?"

"You've leveled up now, you can't afford it."

Zhou Yi tickled her feet with a mischievous grin: "The company budget has all been used to sign Shakira, you should focus on making money."

Anne Hathaway rolled her eyes at him, feeling very itchy.

"Brokeback Mountain" not only helped her successfully transform her image, but also helped her maintain her previous "princess" popularity. Now she is moving towards becoming a powerful idol, and her popularity has reached a new level, naturally leading to an increase in business opportunities.

While she was having a blast with Zhou Yi these past few days, her phone was actually being bombarded with calls from her manager, who had been making fun of her quite a bit.

"Then I'll wait and see which artist you'll make famous with this album."

"Don't talk about it in such a mystical way, I'm not a god."

Having had enough of the commotion, Zhou Yi finally let go.

There were some Western celebrities applying this time, but they were clearly not very high-profile.

Or rather, among the resumes that were finally selected and presented to him, he didn't see any of the future superstar actresses.

They were probably eliminated by Warner Bros. in the early rounds.

Nowadays, even the most experienced practitioners of the I Ching wouldn't have the time to look through resumes one by one; otherwise, they wouldn't be working.

Just when Zhou Yi thought the album was finished, Qian Jiang suddenly called him the next day—

"Ah Yi, do you know Ashley Olsen and Mary-Kate Olsen?"

"what?"

Zhou Yi, who was still eating Anne Hathaway's lovingly prepared breakfast, paused for a moment: "Who is it?"

He genuinely didn't know who those two names were.

"The Olsen twins, a pair of celebrity twin sisters who are quite popular in the United States..."

"Oh, I've heard of it, but I don't know it. Why?"

"The other person wants to appear in your new album's music video..."

According to Qian Jiang's introduction, these two American child stars sincerely wanted to participate in the music video performance, even though they are already very wealthy.

"The idea of ​​being extremely wealthy is just an image created by the company."

After ending the call, when Zhou Yi asked her questions, Anne Hathaway curled her lip and said with disdain, "She started as a child star, acted in a TV series, and can be said to have grown up in the eyes of many viewers. She's just a marketing genius female CEO who failed to make a career change and is now relying on her past achievements."

"Explain in detail," Zhou Yi said, intrigued.

He didn't really know much about the two sisters, since they weren't well-known at all in China. On the contrary, their younger sister, Elizabeth Olsen, became a global sensation for her role as "Scarlet Witch," and Zhou Yi recognized her.

"Um……"

Anne Hathaway paused for a moment, seemingly organizing her thoughts: "You've probably heard of a series like 'Friends,' right? The Olsen twins acted in that kind of series in the US when they were kids; they were practically perfect child star templates..."

Simply put, the Olsen twins' childhood television series made them so-called "America's National Daughters," watched by a generation of Americans as they grew up. Under these circumstances, their past popularity was undeniable. Their agent, a highly professional shrewd operator, noticed the sisters' popularity and decisively established DoubleStar Entertainment to package them, operating this cash cow alongside the Olsen family—

The Olsen twins' various merchandise sold out thanks to their popularity as "national daughters," and the two sisters, who were still minors at the time, became billionaires envied by many people because of their company shares.

However, as the two sisters grew up, the drawbacks of being a child star began to emerge.

The series has ended, no longer providing them with a continuous stream of exposure and popularity;
The children who watched the sisters grow up have also developed their own understanding and are no longer childish enough to buy the various merchandise they would have bought as children. This directly led to a significant decline in the performance of Double Star Company.

In an attempt to salvage their careers, the two sisters began appearing in various TV dramas as supporting roles and guest stars, hoping to transition into acting in movies, but without any success.

Criticism of his poor acting skills followed him relentlessly, and his popularity and reputation continued to decline.

A child prodigy may not necessarily be a great adult – this is the nightmare that has befallen countless child stars.

At this point, the Olsen sisters' career transformation was no longer just encountering difficulties; it was experiencing a precipitous decline. As a result, Double Star Company's performance also began to plummet, since the company sold merchandise related to the two sisters.

In 2004, the two sisters, who had been rejected by the entertainment industry for various reasons, decided to take a gamble and raise funds from all sides to produce the film "New York Time". However, the film was a complete flop, which completely closed the door to the entertainment industry for the two sisters.

With the company's stock price plummeting, personal assets shrinking, and reputation and popularity waning, the two sisters had no choice but to transform into the clothing business. After all, they had a factory that did peripheral processing, so they could design and manufacture directly, eliminating middlemen and their markups.

After all this effort, there has been some improvement, but not much.

The two sisters still set their sights on their old profession that could make them famous—the entertainment industry.

But they can't act anymore. After all, they've been blacklisted. What's the point of acting? Even if the two sisters lay on the investor's bed together, legs spread wide, it wouldn't make up for the tens of millions of dollars in losses. They're not made of gold.

So, they could only try to get involved in various events – fashion shows and such, the two sisters could still get around, and their child star status as fashion designers could bring them some attention.

"I see."

Zhou Yi raised an eyebrow, understanding dawning on him.

No wonder Elizabeth Olsen's marketing materials on the Chinese internet are full of titles like "wealthy family" and "high society," yet she still starred in so many films that command respect and are widely talked about.

"The Olsen sisters, you've gotten it again, you violent bastard."

Anne Hathaway, who had been slicing the fried egg sandwich with her knife and fork a few times before putting it in her mouth and chewing, said nonchalantly, "Oh, maybe it's three sisters. They also have a younger sister named Elizabeth Olsen."

"What are you talking about?"

What the hell? This is pure slander!
Besides, Elizabeth Olsen is still a minor this year...

I, Zhou Yi, am an extremely principled person!

"What, it's starting already?"

Anne Hathaway said with a look of disdain, "Men always like to have their cake and eat it too."

Zhou Yi gave him a deadpan look: "Isn't this your fault?"

Are you just going to lie through your teeth?
"Don't you know that what I hate most is being both the referee and the player? Whether or not they are hired depends on the company's arrangements. I am just a singer." Zhou Yi put down his knife and fork, his words resounding with righteous indignation.

"It's said that these twin sisters both have great figures, and because they're twins, they look extremely alike..."

"But then again..."

Anne Hathaway, stirring her coffee with a spoon, raised a hand to smooth a stray strand of hair from her shoulder, subtly revealing her cleavage, which was covered by her shirt, while also feigning reluctance—hands covering her feet as she walked, a smile playing on her lips: "Hmm?"

"Ring ring ring!"

Just as Zhou Yi was still haggling with Anne Hathaway about where to shoot this time, his phone, which was on the table, rang again—but this time, the caller ID showed a name he hadn't expected.

Zhang Yimou.

"Ok?"

Shouldn't he be preparing for the promotion of "Curse of the Golden Flower" right now? How come he has time to contact me? Surely he can't be asking me, who's in the US, to help with the promotion?
Zhou Yi frowned and pressed the answer button: "Hello?"

"Zhou Yi, there's something I need your opinion on, it's very important." Zhang Yimou's slightly tired voice came from the other end of the phone, but his tone was very serious.

"what's up?"

"I'd like to invite you to join my team as the music director for the Olympic Games opening ceremony. Would you like to come?"

When Zhang Yimou said those words, his voice sounded nervous and uneasy for the first time in Zhou Yi's ears, as if the question made him feel restless.

After all, Zhou Yi is only 26 years old this year, even if we consider the traditional Chinese age reckoning, and only 25 years old in Western astrology.

If it were just composing a theme song for the Olympics, that would be one thing, but to be directly appointed as the music director for the opening ceremony... the pressure he felt was immense.

Logically speaking, he had a more suitable candidate based on age and performance – his long-time collaborator Chen Qigang, winner of the 2005 French Symphony Music Award.

However, the Olympics is, after all, a big event.

It wasn't that he didn't trust his old partner; the pressure was simply too great, and he had to complete everything perfectly. For this reason, he thought of Zhou Yi, who had composed the instrumental piece "The Elephant King's Journey" and was going to be responsible for the entire instrumental soundtrack for Jiang Wenxin's new film, "The Sun Also Rises."

This shows that Zhou Yi also has absolute confidence in his ability to compose pure music.

Both are people who have proven themselves, but Zhang Yimou is more willing to believe in Zhou Yi's abilities, after all, his dominance and influence in the Western music world are unmatched in the domestic entertainment industry.

"I'm fine with it, but are you sure you've been elected? Hasn't it been announced yet?"

Zhou Yi, who was taking an open-book exam and had brought his answers to copy, didn't feel any psychological pressure. Instead, he was curious about when Zhang Yimou called him—if he remembered correctly, the Organizing Committee wouldn't officially announce Zhang Yimou's selection as the chief director of the 2008 Olympics until April 16th of this year.

Upon hearing the agreement, Zhang Yimou on the other end of the phone unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief: "They've already notified me, it's settled, they're going through the formalities now, and they should officially announce it around the middle of next month. I need to assemble a team, and that's why I thought of you..."

“Okay, no problem, I’ll be the music director.”

Zhou Yi agreed again, which put Zhang Yimou's mind at ease.

After hanging up the phone, Anne Hathaway, curious about why Zhou Yi was discussing things so formally in Chinese, asked, "Of course, if it's inconvenient, just pretend I didn't ask."

"It's nothing big, I just became the music director for the opening ceremony of the 08 Olympics," Zhou Yi shrugged, speaking in a nonchalant tone.

Anne Hathaway stared in astonishment, her eyes wide and mouth agape: "Huh???"

What the hell?
Olympic Games???
Is it really such an important opening ceremony?
Why do you describe it as casually as eating and drinking?
"God, are you crazy or am I crazy?" The extreme shock made Anne Hathaway unconsciously cover her head with her hands and rub her hair in disbelief.

Zhou Yi smiled, remained silent, and was quite calm.

He's going to break his contract now—his favorite thing is to be both referee and player.

If Chen Qigang was kicked out by him, then the solo song "Me and You" for the opening ceremony can also be discarded. This song was actually chosen by Chen Qigang himself, who acted as both judge and player, because he wrote it.

(End of this chapter)